the great orange cookout - my creations

DARK CHOCOLATE MOUSSE
(serves 6-8)

300g dark couverture chocolate, chopped ( i substituted this with Cadbury Dark Cooking Chocolate )
150g soft butter
6 eggs, separated
40g castor sugar
3 tbsp rum ( i used triple-sec instead..it's a type of orange liqueur, smells like mandarin oranges)
dark couverture chocolate and cocoa powder, to serve

1. melt chocolate in a large heatproof bowl placed over a saucepan of simmering water - don't allow the bowl to touch the water. Remove chocolate from heat, stir in butter, egg yolks and rum and set aside to cool for 5 minutes. ( i only added the triple sec at the end of the whole process, ie. just before pouring into serving cups as i had a friend who cannot take alcohol ..non-halal ^_^)
2. use a hand-beater to whisk egg whites until soft peaks form.
3. Add sugar and whisk again until well-combined.
4. Pour cream into chocolate mixture and stir.
5. Gently fold egg whites into chocolate mixture until smooth.
6. Pour into serving glasses. Cover and chil for a few hours or overnight. Serve with dark chocolate shavings and a good dusting of cocoa.

ORANGE BISCOTTI
(10 Servings)

125g self-raising flour
100g white sugar
2g salt
1 egg
1 egg white
50g chopped almonds
10g orange zest

1. Preheat oven to 175 C. Grease cookie sheet
2. In a medium bowl, stir together flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Beat in the egg and egg white, then mix in almonds and orange zest.
3. Knead dough by hand till mixture forms a smooth ball
4. Roll the dough into a log about 10cm wide, 5-7cm high, about 15 cm long ( actually doesnt matter...depends on personal preference)
5. Bake for about 20-25 minutes in preheated oven. After baking, cool on a rack. With a serrated knife, cut into 3-5mm slices. Place slices, cut slice down, back onto the baking sheet.
6. Return them to the oven for an additional 20-25 minutes ( till slightly browned and crisp). turning over halfway through the baking.
7. Place cookies on racks to cool.

Alternatives: cut the dough into thin slices before baking. Also, you might want to consider dipping the cooled biscotti in chocolate to give it a chocolate coating.


here's another experimental idea that i'm working on to improve it:

CARAMELISED ORANGE SLICES

1. cut orange into slices of 4.
2. coat pulp area with sugar ( i used brown sugar during this try)
3. bake in oven at about 200C till sugar has caramelised

the great orange cookout

"the world of cooking has immeasurable depths" - yakitate! japan ep62

the date was set, the menu prepared, chefs ( and kitchenhands) appointed, invitations sent, the shopping and venue bookings done.... all for the biggest cooking event i've ever organised.

Venue: Bruce Hall South Kitchen
Time: 1300 - 2000 (cooking), 2000 - 2130(dinner)
Theme: Orange! and anything else that reminds you of home

-Chef list-
Entree:
Eugene - baked orange-egg

Main course :
1.Ernest - "te ka"(hokkien for vinegared pork trotters)
2.Kelly Lee - curry chicken, 'fu-yong' egg, fried chicken with curry leaves, fried kangkung with belacan, crispy fried squid rings, steamed tofu with black soy sauce
3. Hong Yin - Ginger Chicken (cooked with a generous helping of cooking wine)
4. Aaron Ng - Asam Curry Fish

Dessert:
1. Veng Hoong - Dark Chocolate Mousse, Orange Biscotti
2. Ai Lin & Elizabeth - Kaya dip
3. Huda - Khir(Pakistani dessert...with an added twist using lots of coconut!)

-Invite List-
Kenny Chew, Adrian Wong, Net, SengBeng, Hazel, Phoebe, Felix, Will, Xinyi, LiChen, RachelLau, XinYi, XiaoJing, JonathanOh, ChiYao, AidanMorrison

i've actually had the idea of organising this event sometime back during the semester1 winter break, but then after discussion with eugene my co-organiser, we thought it'd be better to do it once, do it good, and especially when everyone's back from their holidays. originally, the idea was to have an orange-themed cookout where everything from starters to mains will have something to do from orange. why orange? well, i had the idea from Boys' Brigade Malaysia Pesta2003's Orange Bash Night, where everyone came dressed in orange. we relaxed the idea such that it only applies to myself and eugene, and so we got a few others to cook whatever they'd like to cook... and poof! comes all the delicious homestyle delicacies.

these are pictures from our menu..both ingredients and the actual dishes themselves. quite fun to try to guess the name of each dish =)
the event was such a GREAT success thanks to everyone who came to cook, help, and most importantly EAT all the food! i felt really happy watching others just enjoying their food with the company of good friends.....the good ol' merry experience at the dining table! and i love the part where we dine like what asian families do...share the food on the table, as compared to the more western approach of having your own food on your own plate.

GREAT FOOD + GREAT COMPANY + GREAT MUSIC = pure bliss

French Chocolate Macaroons

*darker looking cookies - french chocolate macaroons (by myself)
*lighter coloured cookies - chewy oat cookies (by karen zhang)
*acknowledgements: kelly lee, for helping with preparation, baking, and participating in the photo =)


Post-exam cookie baking session. held just before cocktail drinks session for some of us. really fun baking with friends - loads of endless laughter. and usually there's always something new to learn about baking, or just about your friends =)

French Chocolate Macaroons (makes 24)

3 egg whites
25g Dutch cocoa
200g caster sugar
150g ground almonds
1 1/2 tbsp plain flour

1.Line biscuit tray with baking paper. Preheat oven 180 C.
2.Using an electric mixer, whisk egg whites until soft peaks form, then gradually add sugar, whisking well after each addition to dissolve sugar, until mixture is smooth and glossy.
3.Sift clour and cocoa together, then stir in ground almonds.
4.Gently stir flour mixture into egg white mixture until just combined.
5.Spoon tablespoonfuls of mixture on to tray and bake for 10 to 15 minutes or until crisp on the outside but still soft in the centre.
6.Let the macaroons stand for 10 minutes before transferring on to a wire rack to cool.

*7. for the macaroons i made this time, i added some chocolate chips onto the cookies' surface as well as glazed the macaroons with egg-wash (egg yolk and water mixture... in roughly 1:1 or 2:1 proportion)